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Wynyard Hall

Durham

Architecture, Regeneration

Described as the most splendid 19th century mansion in County Durham, Wynyard Park is a massive neo-classical county house. It is one of many new mansions and estates created in the 1700s and 1800s, showing off the new wealth that came from mining to certain families.

The Marquess of Londonderry, who married into the local colliery owning family, commissioned the new house on a grand scale in 1822. Designed by Philip Wyatt, it was based on a design for a palace for the Duke of Wellington which was never built.

Part of the building as destroyed by fire in 1841 and local architect and master of the classical style, Ignatius Bonomi, supervised its rebuilding. The elaborate interiors were particularly ostentatious, showing off the wealth of its owners. The magnificent Hall and surrounding parkland provided the perfect setting for lavish entertainment of the most important and influential people in the land.